


peer pressure

by orphan_account



Series: febuwhump 2019 [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, References to Drugs, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 00:56:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17652944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: peter makes...a very bad desision to try and fit in





	peer pressure

“Come on, dickhead, don’t be such a prude. This is probably the only thing anybody has ever or will ever invite you to — do you really want to be _that_ guy?” 

Peter slammed his locker shut in response. “I’m not going, asshole. Leave me alone.” 

“You really want to be a loser the rest of your high school life, huh? At least think about it, Penis.” 

“I have thought about it, and I’m saying no. I wouldn’t be caught dead at anything you’re at, so you’re out’ta luck,” Peter spit, grumbling. He didn’t care about his reputation at this point, and he surely couldn’t hit rock bottom more than once, considering he was already _basically_ there…

“Pussy,” Flash spat. All Peter did was roll his eyes. 

There was no way he’d ever get so low.   
~  
So...so, funny story… 

Peter really had no idea how he’d gotten himself into this smelly, drunken mess — especially after he’d promised himself he _wouldn’t_ let Flash’s stupid words get to him — and he didn’t really know how he was going to get _out_ of it, either. 

Maybe it wasn’t so funny after all. 

See, the one thing Peter Parker was not was _rebellious_. Quite literally, he was the most goodie-two-shoes kid you’d ever meet, but he didn’t particularly mind it because the one thing he hated less than rebellion was getting in trouble, and by God, getting yelled at by May was the number one most scary thing in the universe. 

Not being on the wrong end of a gun, or alien invasions, or anything. Sure, those things were terrifying, but May yelling at him — or _possibly_ even worse, May seething with disappointment — was the scariest thing he could experience. 

And besides, who _really_ needed a bunch of drugs or alcohol at a dumb high school party to have fun? 

Certainly not Peter. Or any of his friends, really. Him and Ned and MJ and even sometimes Harry were all perfectly content going out to see the latest big film on a Saturday afternoon instead of going to a party on a late Friday night. Even getting to study with them on a quiet evening was, honestly, much more appealing. 

So, then, what changed? 

Peter couldn't pinpoint _exactly_ why he was here right now. 

The air was contaminated with possibly every sort of alcohol Peter could name off the top of his head, there were way too many sweaty bodies on each other dancing around him, his ears were ringing from the loud music, and he kind of felt like he was teetering on the edge of death. What was _in_ these drinks?! 

By complete chance, Peter saw Ned out of the corner of his eye — he hadn’t seen Ned since they first arrived — and tried his best to pass through everyone to get to his best friend. Hopefully Ned felt better than he did right now. 

Once he’d flagged him down, Ned stumbled over to where Peter was, near the corner of the kitchen where there were less people around. “Dude — dude, where’ya been…!” 

Peter shook his head as he reached out to grab onto Ned, “we need - we need to go,” he mumbled, “I - I really don’want to be here any longer, Ned..” 

Ned shook his head with a loopy smile spreading across his face. “Nah, bud - buddy, Peter, we gotta s’ay here, it’s so - so fun!” 

And then, out of the corner of his eye, Peter spotted Flash and his friends. 

God, he wanted to drop dead right here and right now. 

“Penis Parker!” 

Fuck. 

“You came! I knew you’d have the balls to show up!” 

“Ned, we - we gotta go, please, Ned—”

“No! No, Pete - Peter, we gotta stay…gotta stay here, an’have fun!” 

Peter could’ve broken down right here, right now if he weren’t so strong. He wanted out of here, wanted out of Flash’s torment, out of Ned’s delusional words, out of the alcohol, these drugs, the noise— 

He didn’t even know what was in his body at the very least, and judging by the pounding in his head, he was getting worse and worse. “I’m going home, Ned, gotta…gotta get some sleep.” 

“Uh - uh huh! Have a goo’night, Peter! I’ll call you to’orrow, promise!” 

This was awful. Why had he ever thought this was a good idea? He should’ve listened to his instincts better!

Awesome, and now he’s going to have to try and find some way back home without getting talked to, kidnapped, murdered or worse, get into his house (did he even have keys with him?), nurse himself back to health and get all of these putrid smells off of him before May gets home from work in the morning. He’d have plenty of time.

Peter didn’t know how to get out of this house, though. It was a huge place — probably worth more than what May’s made her whole damn life — and he was way too out of it to remember how he’d gotten to where he was. 

Then disaster struck. 

Okay, okay, it was probably for the better that the cops showed up at the house, but that didn’t stop Peter from having a very, _very_ severe fight or flight response. Spider-Man’s was my definitely fight any day of the week, but Peter Parker? He was a coward through and through and he couldn’t help but feel his mind immediately sober up to try and find an exit. There were sirens surrounding him and his head was pounding worse than it was beforehand. He needed out — but most importantly, he needed to escape before he was taken to a station and May would have to come pick him up. Shit, shit, shit, _shit_ — 

Apparently he was closer the door than he thought he was because it wasn’t until just a few seconds later that two policemen came trampling into the room, looking for anybody they could find. Fucking hell, of course the _one_ party he shows up to — that he didn’t even _want_ to be at ! — has the police find out and come to the house. 

This could easily be one of the top ten worst days of Peter’s life. And that’s saying a _lot_ considering… 

He didn’t have time to finish his thought before he was being taken against his will by a very muscular, very angry policeman, right out of the house that started all of this chaos in the first place.   
~   
A bunch of Peter’s peers and classmates escaped, which was kind of incredible because there was a lot of kids who were there in the first place. Apparently Peter wasn’t that smart.

Only about twenty of them actually got taken to the police station, including him and Ned. Of fucking _course_ Flash was nowhere to be found — that asshole. 

Peter found himself in the back of a police car, sat in between two kids whom he’d never even met — what a great place to meet new people, right? — fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie, anxiety bubbling up inside him with every passing second. He couldn’t believe what he’d done. May was going to kill him. 

No, actually, she’d yell at him, kill him, get Mister Stark to invent a way to bring him back to life, yell at him some more, and _then_ he’d be done with for good. 

That sounded more like it. 

When Peter arrived at the police station (Jesus Christ, he never thought he’d live to see the day he _wound up at a police station_ ), he was told to follow the officers and that anything he did or said could be _used against him_. This couldn’t be real life. 

It was almost four the morning when Peter was finally told he could go home with a warning. He was feeling a hell of a lot more sober besides the fact that he probably wasn’t at all — supposing being caught and taken to a police station and being scared out of your mind does that to you, huh? 

He also had to get them to call someone to pick him up and sign him out, but since May was at the hospital until at least seven, he had no choice but to call Tony who, at this point, was basically a second guardian of his. 

Thing is…well, not to be dramatic, but he’s pretty sure he’d rather die than have Tony come and pick him up. 

It read four-thirty seven on the blaring red clock on the wall when he was told Tony was here to pick him up. Every second felt slow and hazy as he trailed behind one of the officers that drove him here to the lobby, dreading — yes, _dreading_ — seeing Tony. That usually never happened. 

“Tony Stark, yes?” The officer called, a sour smile on his face. Tony nodded his head curtly. “I’m assuming an officer told you what happened?” Tony nodded shortly again. “Alright. I just need you to tell me a few things about him and a signature and you’re good to go. Kid’s name, age, birthday and legal guardian, please?” 

Peter was stood behind the officer, staring bullets into his worn-out shoes, unable to decide what his punishment would be. Yelled at? Likely. Suit taken away? Probably. Grounded? Oh, most definitely. Shit. 

“Peter Parker, sir, he’s currently seventeen years old, his birthday is August tenth and May Parker and I both currently have guardianship of him. Where do I need to sign?” 

Peter was too scared to say a word the whole drive back to the Tower.   
~   
“Welcome back, boss. Welcome back, Peter. Would you both like me to take you to the lab?” 

“No, FRIDAY, top floor, please.” 

“Alright, boss.” 

“Thanks, FRI.” Tony paused. “You going to say thank you?” 

Peter muttered a short, “Thank you, FRIDAY,” to the AI who responded chirpily as ever. If only she knew what Peter was in for. 

When they arrived to the top floor, Tony’s arms were crossed over his chest as he walked out of the elevator. He was wordless. Peter hesitantly followed Tony to the couch that was in the den, waiting for the inevitable. Not like he’d bring it up, though — Jesus. 

“So,” Tony started, sitting down on the couch, giving off immediate vibes akin to annoyance, maybe irritation — disappointment for sure. “I really don’t know where to start with this, Pete. I’m just so genuinely shocked you’d even think of doing something so damn irresponsible and out of character.” 

Peter winced. He already wanted this to be over.

“Please explain what the hell happened tonight, Peter. And I want the truth.”

“I…I don’t know.” 

Peter could see Tony visibly tense at Peter’s words. He was in for this bad. 

“Peter Parker, I’m not fucking around right now,” Tony said lowly. He’d never seen Tony so disappointed in him before, and that…was shocking considering some of the stupid shit he’d done before. 

“I really don’t!”

“So you didn’t know it was going to be a party, huh? Didn’t know about the alcohol there? The drugs? None of that? You’re really going to tell me you _didn’t know_?!”

Peter bit down on his lip, willing it to stop trembling so much. He didn’t want to cry. He couldn’t fucking cry — not here, not now, certainly not in front of Tony who was practically seething already. 

“I’m going to count to three.” 

“No — Tony, please, I —”

“One.”

Peter’s lip trembled some more, and he could feel the tears welling in his eyes. 

“Two!” 

“Okay, okay!” Peter raised his voice more than he meant to, scaring himself a bit in the process. “I’ll — I’ll tell you, but stop counting! Please!” 

Tony’s eyebrows shot up challengingly as if telling him to go on or he’d continue— Peter wasn’t sure he wanted to know what’d happen when he got to three. 

“I — I did know, I knew it would be a party,” he said lowly, not daring to look his mentor in the eyes. 

“Tell me something I don’t know, Parker. Why the hell did you go? Do you have any fucking clue how careless and risky that was? You’re better than that, Peter, and as a superhero — as an _Avenger_ , you need to learn how to make decisions that won’t land you _in a jail cell_!”

“Stop it!” Peter yelled, shaking his head quickly. “You know I’ve never done something like this before and you know I won’t do it again!” His chest was heaving and, of course — _of course_ — he could feel the first tear stream down his face. “I — Flash told me about it, and — and I couldn’t just _not_ go, Mis’er Stark, really, I just— I just wanted to fit in for once! I — I know, I know it was stupid now, and I promise I won’t do it again, please don’t take my suit away, please —”

Tony shut his eyes and dropped his arms from his chest. Clearly the kid was telling the truth — there’s no way he’d start to cry over something he wasn’t so passionate about. In all honesty, Peter’s words were really starting to get to him — he’d felt these exact same damn things when he was Peter’s age — younger, even — but he didn’t have someone like himself to stop him, which led to a lifelong struggle with dealing with those fucking decisions. Tony wouldn’t let Peter do that to himself as long as he was alive and breathing. 

“Relax, Peter,” Tony said finally. His voice was still teetering on the edge of disappointment but he’d brought it back by a lot, for which Peter greatly appreciated. “I get it. I really do, kid. I think you forget the shit I’ve been through sometimes, what I used to do when I was your age.” 

Peter sniffled in response, angrily rubbing at eyes. Of course he’d done this to Tony. How selfish was he? 

“Point is, kid, that was…it was a really shitty decision you made, whatever the reason was. I’m not letting this become a regular thing, not unless I’m physically dead and unable to do anything about it, got it? I’m still dealing with the repercussions of the shit I used to do and I haven’t been in high school for _decades_ , Pete. I know you want to fit in, and I know it’s hard, kid, but you have…you have another whole life you need to pay very careful attention to. If you sullied Spider-Man with a bad Peter Parker decision, it’ll haunt you for the rest of your life. To be Spider-Man, you’ll need to make hard decisions and sacrifice a lot of things. Fitting in with the popular kids included.” 

Peter nodded solemnly. He knew that, he _did_ , so how’d he let that slip? “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” 

God, he sounded broken. 

“Come ‘ere, kid,” Tony extended his arms for Peter to come and sit next to him. “I know you’re sorry.” 

Slowly but surely, Peter inched his way over to Tony and eventually they were sat, fully embraced together. Neither of them were sure how long it was, but the sun was definitely rising by the time either of them even thought to speak again.

“You know I’m not really mad at you, right, kiddo?” Tony said softly. “I don’t want you making the same decisions I did. That’s why I stress these rules so much. Plus, would you rather be popular in high school for a couple years, or would you rather a good guy like Spider-Man to be clean and last your entire life?” 

Peter didn’t respond, but Tony knew he got through to him. It wa pretty damn evident Peter would never think about doing something like this ever — _ever_ — again. 

“How am I going to tell Aunt May?” Peter whispered softly, nuzzling closer into Tony. Tony’s hands were absentmindedly carding through Peter’s messed, curly hair. 

“No idea, kid. Sometimes there are things in life you have to go through alone, and telling Aunt Hottie about this…is most definitely one of them. I wish you the best of luck, Underoos. You’ll need it.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you even mildly enjoyed this please don’t hesitate to tell me !!
> 
> my tumblr is @olrazzzledazzzle, it’s pretty new but i love interacting with people so it’d be super cool to see some lit people over there !! thank you for reading my word vomit <33


End file.
